How not to organize a boycott

[Scooter]

Having completely failed to learn the lessons of innumerable past failed boycotts against corporations like Disney, Procter and Gamble, IKEA, JC Penney, Ford, McDonalds, etc., etc., etc. in a bid to turn back the clock on LGBT equality rights, the National Organization for Marriage is at it again, this time targetting Starbucks for its support of marriage equality legislation in Washington state. Once again, an epic fail. Their flaccid boycott effort has garnered a laughable 22,000 supporters. Meanwhile, in response to the boycott, supporters of Starbucks' marriage equality stand have managed to gather over 280,000 signatures in just 3 days, and are determined to maintain a 10 to 1 advantage over whatever numbers NOM can manage to muster in its pathetic efforts.

So all that NOM has succeeded in doing is to prove to Starbucks that its marriage equality stand has paid off.

Just to prove even more what morons the folks at NOM are, they initially provided a list of alternative coffee shops for people to patronize. However, they have since had to take down the list from their boycott website because many of those establishments had also supported marriage equality, and in some cases were lesbian/gay owned. Oops!

With enemies like these, LGBT folks seeking marriage equality hardly need friends.

[Scooter]

You couldn't make this shit up:

The National Organization for Marriage wants a few "noncognitive" celebrities to carry its antigay message to the masses.

In the strategy document, which has already received a deluge of criticism for its plan to use race to divide the country, NOM outlines "cultural strategies" that include recruiting celebrity spokespeople.

"We are looking for a new set of messengers," the document declares. But it doesn't seem to think too highly of whoever volunteers, calling them "glamorous noncognitive elites."

"Here's the bottom line: Hollywood with its cultural biases is far bigger than we can hope to be. We recognize this," the strategy states. "But we also recognize the opportunity - the disproportionate potential impact of proactively seeking to gather and connect a community of artists, athletes, writers, beauty queens and other glamorous noncognitive elites across national boundaries."

GLAAD points out that NOM did in fact recruit a "beauty queen," as it had strategized. Miss California Carrie Prejean, who famously said she opposed "opposite marriage" in an answer on stage at the Miss USA pageant, was a short-lived spokeswoman for the group before a sex tape of her surfaced.

Then NOM successfully recruited an athlete, as it had imagined, to speak out against marriage equality in New York. Former New York Giants wide receiver David Tyree, a Super Bowl hero, said in a video for NOM that same-sex marriage would lead to "anarchy" nationwide.

While NOM failed in New York, NOM did succeed in getting a lot of attention for its celebrity partnership, and that seems to have been part of the plan. But NOM hoped that "glamorous noncognitive elites" would inspire others to stand up, and it's unclear whether that's happened in the form of donations or other ways.

Hmmm...

cog·ni·tive [kog-ni-tiv]

adjective
1. of or pertaining to cognition.

2. of or pertaining to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional and volitional processes.

So in searching for spokespeople who are "noncognitive", they are looking for people who are incapable of perceiving, remembering, judging or reasoning?

Come to think of it, not as difficult as it sounds, since that describes pretty much anyone who opposes mariage equality.

They are smart enough to recognize their natural constituency, at least, I'll give them that.

[Crackpot]

I found the perfect spokes person!

[Gob]

So in searching for spokespeople who are "noncognitive", they are looking for people who are incapable of perceiving, remembering, judging or reasoning?

Well who better to represent a bunch of idiots but someone who cannot think?

[rubato]

The tide of history has moved on from this one.

Only the retrograde and stupid still oppose homosexual rights. (mostly people who would like to persecute nigras, if they could get away with it)

yrs,
rubato

[Scooter]

NOM's anti-Starbucks petition - 24,048

Sum of Us' Thank you, Starbucks petition - 460,017

(as at the time of this post)

[Gob]

Sum of us just got another signature.

[Sue U]

And another.

[Andrew D]

And yet another.

[Beer Sponge]

Another here! Still don't drink coffee though. I'll have a fruit smoothie instead!

[kristina]

Another signature (although I've never liked their coffee...)

[BoSoxGal]

Signed!

Now if only they'd open a branch in my wee burg.